Yen Rises Ahead Of BoJ Monetary Policy Meeting

(RTTNews) - The Japanese yen strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, as traders await the Bank of Japan (BoJ) monetary policy decision due this week.

Interest rates are anticipated to remain unchanged when the Japanese central bank makes its announcement on Thursday.

Investors will therefore closely monitor the BoJ's revised economic forecasts for indications regarding when the next rate hike is expected to occur, since this will have a significant impact on the short-term dynamics of the JPY price.

Due to growing economic concerns brought on by U.S. tariffs, traders have delayed expectations that the BoJ will raise interest rates immediately. However, indications of increasing inflation in Japan raise the possibility that the BoJ could tighten policy even more later this year. This could prevent the JPY bears from making bold wagers before this week's BoJ meeting.

Investors are optimistic about the possible de-escalation of trade tensions between the two biggest economies in the world, despite conflicting indications about the status of US-China negotiations.

In the Asian trading today, the yen rose to a 5-day high of 162.03 against the euro, from Monday's closing value of 162.19. On the upside, 158.00 is seen as the next resistance level for the yen.

Against the pound, the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the yen advanced to 190.82, 142.07 and 172.80 from yesterday's closing quotes of 191.03, 142.18 and 173.10, respectively. If the yen extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 183.00 against the pound, 139.00 against the greenback and 170.00 against the franc.

Looking ahead, Eurozone economic sentiment survey data for April is set to be published at 5:00 am ET in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. house price index for February, U.S. Consumer Board's consumer confidence for April and U.S. Dallas Fed services index for April are slated for release.